Watching TV while waiting for Dominos pizza
to be delivered to our hotel room.
.
Time in the hot tub after supper.
.
Now we're off to the hospital.
.
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
St Paul
After a rough start on icy roads with lots of blowing snow, Zeke, Taylor and I all arrived safely in St Paul, MN. The trip that normally takes us 4 hours ended up taking 6 hours. Zeke's checkup with his surgeon is scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm.
I'll post more tomorrow when I'm not so exhausted.
.
I'll post more tomorrow when I'm not so exhausted.
.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Thankful
This morning, I began to get frustrated about all the kids items that had been left laying around the house. Then I came upon this little pair of shoes.
I realized how lost I would feel if I came home one day and there was no little girl to leave her little shoes by the door.
So today I'm thankful, even for items left laying around.
.
.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Riley at the rink
.
Taylor iceskating
.
Anthony at an SDSU basketball game with me
.
Staci & Sandy with the cake Staci made.
.
Part of Brittney's gymnastic team at the last meet
.
Brittney getting an award.
She's the one in black.
.
Waiting for competition
.
My dad playing Just Dance 3 with Riley on Christmas Eve
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Sunday, January 8, 2012
Family Updates
I've been very sporadic about blogging lately. I decided with the few minutes I have this morning, I'd just give a few updates on the kids:
Brittney competed in floor in the Varsity gymnastics meet yesterday. She scored an 8.5 and felt like it was one of her best routines. She has practice every night after school until 6pm and competitions most weekends and sometimes on weekdays. Her next gymnastics meet is in Madison on Friday evening.
Brittney's also on the senior team for Wildfire Cheerleading. She loves it but sometimes feels alone as the only 8th grader on the team. Her first competition for cheer is in Sioux Falls on the 22nd.
Brittney's new sport is hockey. No, she isn't playing - just watching. She purchased a hockey season pass this year and has definitely gotten her money's worth. There just might be a special someone that she goes to watch but I'm not allowed to say :)
.
Riley has been playing basketball on Mondays and Tuesdays, going to piano lessons on Mondays and just signed up for Little League Baseball again in the spring. We're debating signing him up for wrestling or hockey. Brittney took him to open iceskate at the rink the other day for the first time and he was skating like a pro. The older kids there asked if he played hockey. I'm just not sure if our family could handle the financial and time committments of hockey, so we'll see.
Riley's done amazing this year in school and loves to help in the nursery at church. He's so good with the little ones and they love him!
.
Taylor is also participating in basketball and piano. She and Riley play on the same days but at different times, so it's sometimes a challenge to get everyone to their spot on time. She loves to read books, listen to music and help in the nursery at church and hang out with me, but her all-time favorite activity is still socializing with her friends.
.
Zeke will be starting Special Olympics basketball on Monday. In addition to his therapy at school, I take him to the hospital twice a week for physical therapy. He and I will go back to St Paul on Thurs 12th for a check-up. He seems to be doing amazingly well after surgery. We no longer use the wheelchair and he only uses the walker for long distances and at school when he might be easily distracted and fall down. I still do exercises with him every morning and some nights (I should be doing them every night, but sometimes life gets in the way) We try to keep him as active as possible to speed the recovery process along. He continues to wear his leg/foot braces when he walks.
.
Anthony is doing excellent at school academically. He's smart and most subjects seem to come easily to him. The other day, Taylor asked me how to spell a long word and before I could respond, Anthony spelled it for her. He still struggles with authority and getting along with others. Ironically, all the kids in his class really seem to like Anthony, and thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any really violent tendencies. Which is good because he is a very angry little boy right now. In fact, if you ask him why we take him to Sioux Falls every week to see his therapist, Christine, he'll matter-of-factly tell you it's "because I have anger issues."
.
The Little One is doing well but of course I can't say much about her. Here's what I can tell you. We just got to celebrate her second birthday. She's still with us and still in foster care. The next court date is in a month. She isn't able to be adopted at this point in time.
Isn't that just a ton of information?
.
Steve is loving his job with 1st Bank & Trust. He works Mon-Fri from 7:45am to 4:45pm, with an hour for lunch. He's recently started working out over his lunch hour since the bank will pay for the membership. He's also been putting in quite a few hours at the Swiftel Center. Friday, he went right from the bank at 5pm and worked at Swiftel until 1am, then turned around and went back to Swiftel at 10am. So yesterday and today, he'll be at Swiftel from 10am until 10pm. He's saving the extra money to find a different vehicle for himself.
.
ME.......I don't know what I'm doing. I told the physical therapists at the hospital that I was taking off my Super Mom cape and throwing it away. That was after missing two of Zeke's physical therapy appointments in a row. This whole Christmas vacation I was scrambling, trying to cover everything with all the kids. Obviously, I didn't do a very good job.
After a two week Christmas break, I'm back working at Headstart with kids who have special needs, although I seem to work with all the kids in the classroom at one time or another. Even if they're not on IEP's, a majority of the kids enrolled in the program have some sort of special need. I'm blessed to work with some wonderful teachers and I continue to learn new techniques from them every day. I'm there Mon - Thurs from 8:15am - 3:45pm, and occasional Fridays. This past Friday we had class and this Friday we have an in-service in Madison.
It's been a bit of a struggle (ok, a big struggle) for me lately because I'm trying to work through a lot of emotions concerning our little one. When something consumes my thoughts, all I want to do is curl up in my bed and read a good book, hoping that will keep my mind off all the things my mind wants to dwell on. Which would probably work well if I didn't have 6 kids :)
So a big thank you to all the friends and family that have chipped in and help deliver kids where they need to go and those who have had to listen to me vent about life. I couldn't do it without you!
.
PS: My amazing husband willingly spent Thursday evening with 9 kids, including feeding them supper, so I could go out to eat with my friends!
.
.
Brittney competed in floor in the Varsity gymnastics meet yesterday. She scored an 8.5 and felt like it was one of her best routines. She has practice every night after school until 6pm and competitions most weekends and sometimes on weekdays. Her next gymnastics meet is in Madison on Friday evening.
Brittney's also on the senior team for Wildfire Cheerleading. She loves it but sometimes feels alone as the only 8th grader on the team. Her first competition for cheer is in Sioux Falls on the 22nd.
Brittney's new sport is hockey. No, she isn't playing - just watching. She purchased a hockey season pass this year and has definitely gotten her money's worth. There just might be a special someone that she goes to watch but I'm not allowed to say :)
.
Riley has been playing basketball on Mondays and Tuesdays, going to piano lessons on Mondays and just signed up for Little League Baseball again in the spring. We're debating signing him up for wrestling or hockey. Brittney took him to open iceskate at the rink the other day for the first time and he was skating like a pro. The older kids there asked if he played hockey. I'm just not sure if our family could handle the financial and time committments of hockey, so we'll see.
Riley's done amazing this year in school and loves to help in the nursery at church. He's so good with the little ones and they love him!
.
Taylor is also participating in basketball and piano. She and Riley play on the same days but at different times, so it's sometimes a challenge to get everyone to their spot on time. She loves to read books, listen to music and help in the nursery at church and hang out with me, but her all-time favorite activity is still socializing with her friends.
.
Zeke will be starting Special Olympics basketball on Monday. In addition to his therapy at school, I take him to the hospital twice a week for physical therapy. He and I will go back to St Paul on Thurs 12th for a check-up. He seems to be doing amazingly well after surgery. We no longer use the wheelchair and he only uses the walker for long distances and at school when he might be easily distracted and fall down. I still do exercises with him every morning and some nights (I should be doing them every night, but sometimes life gets in the way) We try to keep him as active as possible to speed the recovery process along. He continues to wear his leg/foot braces when he walks.
.
Anthony is doing excellent at school academically. He's smart and most subjects seem to come easily to him. The other day, Taylor asked me how to spell a long word and before I could respond, Anthony spelled it for her. He still struggles with authority and getting along with others. Ironically, all the kids in his class really seem to like Anthony, and thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any really violent tendencies. Which is good because he is a very angry little boy right now. In fact, if you ask him why we take him to Sioux Falls every week to see his therapist, Christine, he'll matter-of-factly tell you it's "because I have anger issues."
.
The Little One is doing well but of course I can't say much about her. Here's what I can tell you. We just got to celebrate her second birthday. She's still with us and still in foster care. The next court date is in a month. She isn't able to be adopted at this point in time.
Isn't that just a ton of information?
.
Steve is loving his job with 1st Bank & Trust. He works Mon-Fri from 7:45am to 4:45pm, with an hour for lunch. He's recently started working out over his lunch hour since the bank will pay for the membership. He's also been putting in quite a few hours at the Swiftel Center. Friday, he went right from the bank at 5pm and worked at Swiftel until 1am, then turned around and went back to Swiftel at 10am. So yesterday and today, he'll be at Swiftel from 10am until 10pm. He's saving the extra money to find a different vehicle for himself.
.
ME.......I don't know what I'm doing. I told the physical therapists at the hospital that I was taking off my Super Mom cape and throwing it away. That was after missing two of Zeke's physical therapy appointments in a row. This whole Christmas vacation I was scrambling, trying to cover everything with all the kids. Obviously, I didn't do a very good job.
After a two week Christmas break, I'm back working at Headstart with kids who have special needs, although I seem to work with all the kids in the classroom at one time or another. Even if they're not on IEP's, a majority of the kids enrolled in the program have some sort of special need. I'm blessed to work with some wonderful teachers and I continue to learn new techniques from them every day. I'm there Mon - Thurs from 8:15am - 3:45pm, and occasional Fridays. This past Friday we had class and this Friday we have an in-service in Madison.
It's been a bit of a struggle (ok, a big struggle) for me lately because I'm trying to work through a lot of emotions concerning our little one. When something consumes my thoughts, all I want to do is curl up in my bed and read a good book, hoping that will keep my mind off all the things my mind wants to dwell on. Which would probably work well if I didn't have 6 kids :)
So a big thank you to all the friends and family that have chipped in and help deliver kids where they need to go and those who have had to listen to me vent about life. I couldn't do it without you!
.
PS: My amazing husband willingly spent Thursday evening with 9 kids, including feeding them supper, so I could go out to eat with my friends!
.
.
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Real News
The news clip of our family the other day showed a peaceful family playfully enjoying a board game together. If there was a camera in our house this morning, it would show:
Brittney pounding on the bathroom door and screaming at the top of her lungs at Riley to get out of the bathroom.
Taylor yelling at Zeke because he's not using the right bowl for breakfast.
Anthony telling Riley to "shut his butt" and then screaming and crying that everyone is calling him a baby.
Etc.........
.
Brittney pounding on the bathroom door and screaming at the top of her lungs at Riley to get out of the bathroom.
Taylor yelling at Zeke because he's not using the right bowl for breakfast.
Anthony telling Riley to "shut his butt" and then screaming and crying that everyone is calling him a baby.
Etc.........
.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Back to School
The kids are back in school and so am I. Headstart began just one day after the older kids went back to school. I've got some stories and lots of pictures that I need to post but time seems to be getting away from me again. I told Steve last night that I'm having to slip back into my SuperMom cape and I feel like I'm not making it! Yesterday I forgot Zeke's physical therapy at the hospital for the second time and I still haven't picked up Anthony's birthday snacks for school.
Tonight, Steve's watching our kids and a few more so I can go out for pasta with a friend. I think he knows I really need some extra sanity right now! Plus, he's working at Swiftel all weekend so I'll basically be single parenting until Monday.
.
PS: Brittney has a gymnastics meet at the High School in Brookings on Saturday if anyone is interested in watching her.
.
Tonight, Steve's watching our kids and a few more so I can go out for pasta with a friend. I think he knows I really need some extra sanity right now! Plus, he's working at Swiftel all weekend so I'll basically be single parenting until Monday.
.
PS: Brittney has a gymnastics meet at the High School in Brookings on Saturday if anyone is interested in watching her.
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